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Diabetes cases increased by at least 50% in 42 states and by at least 100% in 18 states between 1995 and 2010, a study in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report indicated. Southern and Appalachian states showed the highest increases. Ann Albright of the CDC said rates will keep rising "until effective interventions and policies are implemented to prevent both diabetes and obesity."

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Belgian researchers have found that the intestinal microbe Akkermansia muciniphila can help produce mucus that protects the lining of the gut, thereby reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes and other metabolic disorders associated with obesity. The microbe also increased levels of molecules that control insulin sensitivity, inflammation and fat and energy metabolism. The study was published in PNAS.

A newly developed antibody called mimAb1, which mimics the function of a naturally occurring molecule called fibroblast growth factor 21, helped induce weight loss and improve insulin sensitivity and BMI in obese monkeys, researchers reported in Science Translational Medicine. However, researchers said it is still unclear how the treatment would work in human patients.

A total of 221 new drugs for diabetes and related diseases are awaiting FDA approval or are in clinical studies, according to a report from the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. The treatments include 130 for type 2 diabetes, 32 for type 1 diabetes, 14 for unspecified diabetes and 64 for related conditions, with some medications in multiple categories.

British researchers found significant differences in genetic enrichment between lean and obese patients with type 2 diabetes, suggesting that leaner patients have a larger genetic disposition to diabetes compared with their heavier counterparts. Researchers also found that genetic variants near the LAMA1 gene were associated with type 2 diabetes in leaner individuals only. The findings appear in PLoS Genetics.

Children who carry more of the 32 recently discovered genetic markers for obesity were 1.6 to 2.4 times as likely to be obese as adults as those who carry fewer markers, according to a study in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. Researchers also found that high-risk children who grew faster had a higher risk of obesity than those who grew slower.